"Love is a blade. The cruelest thing about it… is how deep it remembers."
The moon was a sliver of silver, casting pale light through the leafless trees that crowned the Blackpine Forest.
Kael stood by the entrance to the Tomb Gate, robes dusted in ash, runes flickering low across the stone walls. Varnak had just returned from his patrol, delivering maps of the Academy's hidden reliquaries.
"No intrusions," the lich rasped. "But someone followed you after the ball. A noble. Female. Alone."
Kael didn't ask who.
He already knew.
🌫️ Moments Later – Tomb Gate Perimeter
She appeared between the trees like a dream Kael once bled for.
Princess Aeyla Vaelthorn.
She wore a long indigo cloak over her masquerade gown, now dirtied at the hem. Her golden mask was discarded, revealing that cold, untouchable beauty the Empire so adored.
She wasn't glowing tonight. She was trembling.
"I know it's you," she said.
Kael said nothing.
"Your voice. The way you moved at the ball. Your eyes.""You shouldn't be here."
"Tell me it's not you, Kael."
He didn't answer.
Because she didn't deserve a lie—or the truth.
Aeyla stepped closer, defiant despite the fear curling around her voice.
"You died. I watched them cut you down in the square. I—"
"You watched them kill me," Kael interrupted softly. "And did nothing."
Her breath caught.
"I was fifteen. My father—"
"Your father offered my head as entertainment for the court. You clapped."
"I didn't know!"
"You didn't want to."
The air grew heavy.
"What are you doing here?" he asked at last.
Aeyla lowered her gaze.
"I don't know. I… I thought I saw something in your eyes. At the ball. A shadow that felt familiar. But you weren't cruel back then."
Kael turned away.
"I learned from the best."
She stepped beside him, fingers grazing a stone marked with Kael's family crest.
"This place… it's built on graves."
"Everything in the Empire is. Mine just have names."
"Why did you come back?"
"To finish what they started."
A pause. Then a whisper:
"Are you going to kill them?"
Kael's voice was flat. Final.
"Not yet."
Aeyla nodded, tears rimmed in her eyes.
"Will you kill me?"
Kael looked at her for a long time.
"Not until I decide what you meant to me."
[System Notice: Bond Thread Activated — Aeyla Vaelthorn]Status: Broken BetrothedEmotion Detected: Conflict (Trust: 12%, Fear: 18%, Regret: 60%)Potential Paths:— Turn her into an enemy.— Turn her into an ally.— Break her heart again.— Make her queen of ashes.
[Warning: Her choices may shape kingdoms.]
As Aeyla turned to leave, Kael's voice cut through the forest one last time.
"You said you didn't know why you came."
"I don't."
"You came because you remember who I was… and you're terrified of who I've become."
She said nothing.
Then she was gone—swallowed by the night.
🕯️ Later – Inside the Tomb Gate
Kael stared at the shallow pool in the ritual chamber, where memories reflected on black water.
"She'll return," Varnak rasped.
"I know."
"Should I prepare the bindings?"
Kael's voice was quiet. Distant.
"Not yet."
[Villain Points +50: Emotional confrontation without mask.][Bond Thread Established: Aeyla. Future betrayal, redemption, or alliance possible.][System Update: Forbidden Blessing Fragment (1/7) resonated with her presence.]
Kael stood before the altar of bone and whispered:
"The girl died in the courtyard that day. Whatever's left now… she'll have to decide."